ChinaTeacher

You know those ‘stress charts’ they talk about back home? You know, the ones where you rate yourself in terms of the amount of stressful situations happening in your life? Well, here is my latest list – what do you think of it?

1. 2 days left before leaving on my 4-week vacation to Canada/US – (final packing and preparation)

2. Oh yes, a friend is staying at my place in my absence, so I need to get it all cleaned up for her arrival!

3. One week after I return to China, I am moving to a new apartment.

4. One week after that, I am travelling to CAMBODIA for a 4-week vacation.

5. Two weeks after my return, I start my new teaching job at a university here in Hangzhou.

So, what’s the verdict? For me this is a very stressful time, even though the stress is related to positive changes in my life, but WOW! I mean, one minute I am emailing my family members and friends to reconfirm arrival times in Canada/US, and the next I am booking a guesthouse in Cambodia for my first night’s accommodation in July (I will arrive after midnight if you can believe it!). Then, I am emailing administrative details to my friend who will housesit next week, followed by contacting friends who might be able to help me with my big MOVE when I get back to China in July. It’s hard to keep everything straight in my mind, and on track! But, hey, isn’t life exciting?!?!?!!

* * *

I mentioned in my last post how much I enjoy meeting new people, and that I never know what each day will bring, here in Hangzhou. Here is yet another example…. this morning I headed down to the Starbucks located at Xihutiandi (right beside the lake). It is a very relaxing spot to chill out once in a while. Anyway, a friend was scheduled to join me at 10:30, but I decided to arrive earlier to get started on a new book I had picked up. I plodded my way out the back door to the shop’s lakeside patio. As I sat down at one of the umbrella tables, I noticed a Buddhist monk at the next table, drinking coffee! (I didn’t think monks were allowed to consume caffeine!). Anyway, he waved me over, but I declined, pointing to my watch and saying “pengyou“, which meant I was ‘waiting for a friend’. Well, after about 5 minutes, I noticed he had vanished, very quietly, I might add.

Later on, when I found my way back to the counter to order a second coffee, I saw the monk, this time sitting at a corner table inside the shop. He smiled at me and beckoned again – I thought, “okay, why not”, and joined him. Needless to say, he spoke little English, and I spoke little Chinese. But, we were able to exchange a few niceties, smiles; he even took a picture of me with his mobile phone. We exchanged business cards. Turns out that he is some high-level monk who resides at the Lantau Temple in Hong Kong. He is currently travelling around China, spreading the word of Buddha to those who will listen. Obviously he didn’t get very far with me, because he knew I couldn’t understand a word. But, he did remove his hand-carved sandalwood bracelet and slip it onto my wrist – he gestured to me that it was a gift. I felt like I had been blessed or something! I was actually quite surprised that he even ‘touched’ me. In Thailand there is a strict rule forbidding monks to have any contact whatsoever with a woman. They have to go through a major ‘cleansing’ ceremony if such a thing should happen. Anyway, this monk seemed rather interested in my sunglasses. As a result, I presented my sunglasses to him in return as a gift. Actually, I got off pretty lightly.

 My Chinese friend arrived soon after, was treated to a ‘reading’ by the monk and then wound up having to give him 200 RMB! I was shocked!!! My friend simply said – you foreigners don’t understand – “This is how it is done in China. You must give such money to a monk; in fact I am sorry I don’t have more to give at this time”. And here I was, thinking about how much I was missing my damn sunglasses. Oh well. I think I did okay in retrospect.

See what I mean? Each and every day here in China continues to surprise me!

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Monday, May 29th, 2006 at 8:14 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.